People Before Profit's Tipperary representative says Russian invasion of Ukraine is 'outrageous'

Tipperary People Before Profit representative Anne Condon has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an “outrageous, inexcusable and dangerous act of aggression that harks back to the darkest days of great Russian chauvinism and Stalinism.”

However, Anne, from Clonmel, also said that “NATO militarism and expansionism and the hypocrisy of the western powers, including the US and the EU, must also be condemned and rejected.”

“Just as Putin is using war, militarism and nationalism to bolster his despotic and authoritarian rule, NATO and the western powers are using the Ukrainian crisis to militarise the European Union, expand NATO eastward and more closely align Europe with US militarism,” she has stated.

She also condemned the Irish government for its “refusal to criticise NATO’s role in escalating military and political tensions in central and eastern Europe and for using the current crisis to further erode Irish military neutrality and align Ireland with EU/NATO project of European militarisation.”

Anne Condon described as “utterly stunning” the “double standards of the US, the EU and the Irish government”, who call for immediate sanctions against Russia for its military aggression in Ukraine but “trenchantly refuse to impose any sanctions on Israel despite repeated atrocities, invasions, land annexations and breaches of international law perpetrated against the long-suffering Palestinian people.

“People in this country and across the world are rightly horrified at Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. We must condemn this dangerous and unjustifiable invasion.

“However, if we do not want to make a bad situation worse we must equally condemn the militarism and hypocrisy of NATO and the western powers that have stoked up this confrontation by increasing its military presence in the region and conducting regular military exercises on Russia’s border.

“Just as Putin has a bloody record of war and militarism, let’s not forget NATO was responsible for a bloody and disastrous invasion and war in Afghanistan. The powers that dominate NATO continue to arm and support Israel, continue to arm and support a brutal dictatorship in Saudi Arabia conducting a murderous war in Yemen, and those same powers led an invasion and war in Iraq that claimed the lives of over one million people.

“We will not defeat war and militarism by siding with warmongers and militarists on either side but by mobilising opposition and protests to war and warmongers whether they are in Russia, the US or Europe,” she added.

Tipperary's Government TD has appealed to Taoiseach and Tanaiste to cut taxes on fuel